Musical Theatre

Musical Theatre Program Overview

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Wright State University prepares serious pre-professional students for professional careers in the musical theatre. Our Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in Musical Theatre is among the most highly selective at this university, and is one of the most successful in the nation. As part of the College of Liberal Arts, our students not only train to perform at the highest level, but also gain a greater understanding of our world to inform their work.

With our exclusively undergraduate focus, students participate in rigorous conservatory training and exceptional performance opportunities from the very start. Throughout their four years, students are cast in a range of musicals and plays, as understudies, ensemble members, supporting parts, and leading roles. Students also have the opportunity to perform in films produced by our award-winning Motion Pictures program. Seniors can participate in an intensive career workshop and showcase, with elite casting professionals and creative talent in New York City.

Musical Theatre faculty members are working professionals and internationally respected experts in their field, with active careers as directors, actors, choreographers, and teachers around the world.

After four years of multidisciplinary training, over 85% of our graduates begin work immediately. Recent graduates are appearing in TV and movies, on Broadway and in national and international touring companies, as well as at theme parks and on cruise ships.

Admissions & Auditions

The Musical Theatre program at Wright State University is designed for students who are highly motivated to pursue professional careers in musical theatre and acting performance. Students must demonstrate acting and musical proficiency through an audition and meet the university’s educational standards for undergraduate admission. The BFA Musical Theatre Program accepts approximately 3% of those who audition. The day before many auditions, we hold master classes so students can get a glimpse of the outstanding level of our faculty and our productions.

The acting portion of the audition consists of two one-minute monologues that should be selected from plays in roles that are roughly the student’s age. The monologues should contrast in style, showing two sides of the student’s abilities (classical, contemporary, comic, dramatic) and should not be from musicals or stand-alone monologue collections.

Students also present two contrasting one-minute song excerpts from musicals, one of which should be from contemporary theatre repertoire or reflect recent styles. The songs should demonstrate two facets of your singing ability, such as classic or contemporary, ballad or up-tempo. The student should provide sheet music in the desired key, marked to the appropriate length on double-sided copies in a binder for easy reading by our accompanists.

Auditioning students also will participate in a dance audition for placement purposes and should wear appropriate dance attire. You will change into regular clothes for the remainder of your audition.

Your audition also serves to determine qualification for talent scholarships.

Transfer Credits

Transfer students may be accepted into the program after a successful audition and university admissions process. The university generally follows a liberal policy in accepting general education and elective credits, allowing virtually all credits earned at an accredited institution from courses in which the student earned a “C” or better. The Office of the Registrar is responsible for determining which credits are eligible for transfer. However, the program is geared to four years of training and transfer students rarely receive credit for conservatory courses from other institutions.

Alumni

Alumni of the BFA Musical Theatre program average 85% professional theatre employment within their first six months after graduation. Our grads can be seen on Broadway and London’s West End in shows like Jersey Boys, Les Miserables, Holiday Inn, The Fantasticks, Cats and Book of Mormon. And you’ll see alums on national tours of everything from Wicked, Mamma Mia, The Scottsboro Boys and Newsies to The Lion King and White Christmas. They appear at America’s finest regional theatres, from The MUNY to American Conservatory Theatre, New York City Center to Goodspeed Opera House, and on television in shows like Grey’s Anatomy and Big Bang Theory.

Prospective Student Brochure

Scholarships

The Department of Theatre, Dance and Motion Pictures offers an array of scholarships based on talent, academic performance, and financial need. For first-year students, the audition will determine qualification for a scholarship.

Department scholarships include:

The Tom Hanks Scholarship

The Augsburger/Estevez Scholarship created by Martin Sheen

The Theatre Arts Talent Scholarship

The Rising Star Scholarship

Talent scholarships are awarded for one year to students in acting, dance, motion picture production, and design/technology. Students in all majors are eligible to apply each year for merit scholarships. Although competition for scholarships is keen, the department provides generous support to qualified students throughout their four years of study to enable them to complete their degree.

Yvette Williams, '12

Curriculum

Musical Theatre (B.F.A.)

The Musical Theatre program at Wright State University is a rigorous but supportive Professional Actor Training Program designed to prepare students for early career success. Our undergraduate focus means that students audition for and perform in our main stage productions from the very first. Our small class sizes of 16 students or fewer allow the faculty to provide individual attention and coaching to help students develop their talents to the fullest.

Course Work

The four-year B.F.A. curriculum in Musical Theatre includes:

Four years of acting training – classical, contemporary and musical

Four years of dance classes every day – jazz, ballet, tap and theatre dance

Four years of private singing lessons twice each week

Three semesters of movement/physical training

Three semesters of voice and speech training

To see the entire four years of curriculum and course schedules for the Musical Theatre major, please visit the Undergraduate Catalog.

Students are required to maintain an active performance schedule in campus productions throughout the school year.

Honors Program for Seniors

The Honors program in Acting and Musical Theatre provides superior students with further opportunity to demonstrate excellence and receive special recognition in their senior year. Honors students create a capstone project, such as a self-written monodrama, a one person recital, directing a production, or other projects that are mutually agreed upon with the student’s advisor. To apply for admittance to the Honors program, a student must possess a 3.0 overall grade point average and be in the last year of the B.F.A. program.

Senior Showcase in New York

Musical Theatre students may choose to participate in an intensive workshop to prepare them for audition trips to New York or other major entertainment centers. This workshop assists students in the selection and preparation of a wide range of audition materials and in the development of the actor’s presentation. The Showcase in New York City is the culmination of four years of intensive training, includes several audition workshops with top industry professionals, career seminars, alumni networking events and an intensive introduction to the theatre, film and TV industry.

Assessment of Progress

The department leaders feel a strong obligation to graduate only those students whose chances of attaining professional employment remain strong. The faculty believes it is unfair to graduate people who, because of lack of motivation or developing skills, are unlikely to achieve successful, professional careers or who do not seem to be growing adequately within the Professional Actor Training Program. Therefore, students are evaluated regularly for progress, especially through their sophomore year. At the end of the first year of training and at the end of each term of the sophomore year, students participate in faculty juries to assess their singing, acting and dance abilities. When deemed necessary, the faculty advises some students to select another major. All students are urged to carefully consider their career choice and to fully understand the rigors and demands of the acting profession. There is no specific quota for the number of students in any given year of the curriculum.

Professional Acting Training Program students must maintain a grade of "C" or better in all classes required of their major to be retained. Students who are not making satisfactory progress, even with a grade of "C" or better, may be advised by the faculty to withdraw from the program. An overall GPA of 2.5 is required for graduation.

Dance

Careers

Competition for professional opportunities in acting and musical theatre is extremely high, and our Professional Acting Training Program is designed to develop our students’ talent, skills, and commitment to secure employment upon graduation from Wright State University. We maintain an excellent network of relationships with agents, casting directors, and creative talent nationwide. Because of their intensive professional preparation at Wright State University, fully 80 percent of our graduates find work in the field immediately after graduation.

Wright State students find jobs in a wide variety of performance-related fields. If desired, they may pursue additional graduate training in order to teach at the college or university level. Graduates have attended such programs as the Denver Center, Northwestern University, DePaul University, Emerson College, and New York University.

Our alumni are working on and off Broadway, in national tours, and at many of the country’s finest regional theatres, including The Guthrie, Actors Theater of Louisville, Cincinnati Playhouse, Seattle Repertory Theatre, New Jersey Shakespeare Festival, and the Human Race Theatre Company in Dayton. They appear on television, films, radio, industrial films and commercials, as well as on cruise ships and themed entertainment venues, comedy clubs, and cabarets.